Hoof-pad.



No. 832,468. PATENTED OCT. 2'; 1906.

E. FITZGERALD.

HOOP PAD.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. e. 1906.

, cago, in the county air-chamber 11, open UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIoE.

HOOF-PAD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 2, 1906.

Application filed February 8, 1906. Serial No. 300,110.

To all w/wm it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD FITZGERALD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chiof Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Hoof-Pads, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to cushion-tread hoof-pads for use in connectionwith horseshoes.

The object of the invention is to provide a durable, light, andeconomical hoof-pad having a resilient air chamber or cushion forprotecting the frog without interfering with its healthy ventilation andmeans for supporting and firmly holding the cushion in place, shieldingit from wear, and affording a surface against which the shoe may beclosely fitted.

My hoof-pad will not take up dirt or other foreign bodies, gives asecure and effective hold in every direction against slipping, and tendsto shift strain from the rear quarters or Ltendons of the heel to thefront or toe of the 'oot.

In the accompanying drawings I have shown a hoof-pad embodying myinvention.

Figure 1 is a plan view of the bottom of the pad. Fig. 2 is a similarview of the top. Fig. 3 is a side view, and Fig. 4 a cross-section,taken on line 4 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrow.

5 indicates the backing or body portion, preferably of leather, providedwith a central opening 6 under the point of the frog. To this backing issecured the rubber bottom of the pad, comprising the corrugated heelbar7, the outer flange 8, the central resilient cushion or chamber 9, andthe rigid shield or supporting-wall 10. The cushion 9 forms an at thetop and in communication with the outside air through the opening 6 andthe notches of the frog, while its bottom surface is corrugated, asshown, to give a firm hold to the hoof. Sloping sur faces 1 supportthecalks of the shoe, the latter being nailed through the flange 8 intothe hoof in the usual manner. This flange is preferably made of suchsize that it may be trimmed off around the edges to fit any style ofshoe used.

The feature of my invention to which I attach most importance is thesupporting-wall or rigid shield 10. (Shown in Figs. 1 and 3.) As thehorses hoof descends in traveling and strikes the road-bed the blow onthe hoof-pad is oblique, and in constructions having an aircushion,heel-bar, and shoe-flange the blow falls upon the front of the cushionover the frog. It is therefore important that this cushion should besupported on all sides and in a measure shielded from the brunt of thedirect concussion as well as from the wear which comes not only fromordinary travel, but from cutting of the iron shoe. I thereforeconstruct this supporting-wall of solid rubber, projecting itsubstantially to the plane of retraction of the cushion and carrying itaround the cushion to join the heel-bar on the two ends. The exterior isadapted to fit closely within the interior of the shoe, while theinterior is preferably merged or run into the cushion, so as to providea flat curved surface on the bottom of the pad, along which I arrangeteats 13, which afford the necessary friction for a firm footing. Thiswall completely fills the space between the shoe and cushion andprevents the picking up of dirt and other substances, and it also tendsto limit the retraction or compression of the resilient cushion. Whenthe foot is placed firmly on the road-bed, the cushion is pressed upwardand the wall 10 affords a rest or continuous calk for the hoof. By thisconstruction the durability of the pad is materially increased, sincethe iron shoe rests against a comparatively solid surface and the wallcomes into contact with the road-bed when ever the resilient cushion isheavily or suddenly pressed upon.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. A hoof-padcomprising a body portion provided with a flange adapted to seat a shoe,a downwardly-protruding resilient air-chamber beneath the frogventilated from above, a heel-bar, a supporting-wall surroundin saidchamber, said wall being substantially below the bottom of said chamberwhen the latter is compressed, and adapted to fill the space between theshoe and chamber, substantially as described.

2. A hoof-pad comprising a body portion, heel-bar, shoe-flange andresilient air-chamber beneath the frog and a rigid supporting- Wallprojecting substantially below the plane l of retraction of said chambersaid Wall and EDWARD FITZGERALD heel-bar surrounding said cushion andaffording a rest for the horseshoe and a shield and Witnesses:

support for said chamber, substantially as CHARLEs L. HINE,

described. ROBERT CATHERWOOD.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in presence of twoWitnesses.

